He can't lose weight...

[Firiel]

My husband is trying to lose weight. He wants to lose about 75 lbs. During the summer and the previous school year, he basically ate crap all the time and never worked out. For about three weeks, he's been eating real (and mostly healthy) food. We still don't eat enough fruits and vegetables, but his diet is infinitely better than it was over the summer. He was probably consuming 5,000 calories a day over the summer. He's also working out hard twice a week and periodically walks to school or goes on walks with me. But it's been three weeks and he hasn't lost anything. I told him to weigh himself in the morning consistently. He started that and still hasn't lost. I can't figure it out. He's getting frustrated and I'm getting worried.

 

Any advice or explanations?

[metrogirl]

My husband is trying to lose weight. He wants to lose about 75 lbs. During the summer and the previous school year, he basically ate crap all the time and never worked out. For about three weeks, he's been eating real (and mostly healthy) food. We still don't eat enough fruits and vegetables, but his diet is infinitely better than it was over the summer. He was probably consuming 5,000 calories a day over the summer. He's also working out hard twice a week and periodically walks to school or goes on walks with me. But it's been three weeks and he hasn't lost anything. I told him to weigh himself in the morning consistently. He started that and still hasn't lost. I can't figure it out. He's getting frustrated and I'm getting worried.

 

Any advice or explanations?

 

He didn't gain that weight overnight and it isn't going to come off overnight. When I started working out, it took me a few weeks to lose my 1st lb. Tell him not to give up, positive changes in diet and exercise are so beneficial, especially long term.

 

He will start to see results soon, I'm sure of it.

[Jd1983]

Is he gaining any muscle or there's simply no change whatsoever?

 

Usually the start of a diet, you don't notice changes right away.

 

My bf is also trying to lose weight, and he was working out daily and eating healthy, but yet he weighed the same for over a month+. It wasn't until recently that I notice some sort of change.

[BellaDonna]

He should have his doctor run some routine bloodwork checking for diabetes, thyroid issues, etc.

 

He should start keeping a food journal if he has not already. He may not be eating as well as he thinks he is or his portions may be too large. Or he may not be eating enough. He may need to eat 5-6 smaller balanced meals throughout the day instead of 3 larger meals. It's hard to know without seeing what he eats on an average day.

[annie24]

I recommend a program like weight watchers. I notice men do really well on it. I agree with bella in that he needs to track portion sizes as well. food journaling is important! it could help him maybe see where extra calories are coming from.

[Lamour detruit]

Calories in vs calories out. Disregarding health for a moment, that is all that matters. Even if he eats healthy, if he still eats too many calories, he will not lose weight, period.

 

If he doesn't eat too much, and exercices enough, there is absolutely no reason for him not to lose weight unless there are health problems.

[MD Geist]

Have him eat like a diabetic. I dropped 50lbs instantly and I do have troubles losing weight.

[renaissancewoman101]

Maybe he is building muscle instead of losing weight

 

I've been exercising for about 5 months now and have not really lost a lot of weight. But, I have toned up and developed muscles

[ElectricSheep123]

Stop having him weigh himself every morning. It only reminds you of his lack of progress. Weigh him every week etc, so you can actually see the changes in his weight.

 

PS: Has he always been big?

Also, what type of workout does he do? Weight training or Cardio/treadmill?

[Firiel]

Neither of us are eating super healthy, but he is eating 10x better than he was before. His weight had sort of stabilized at a certain point, and he's cut down his calories A LOT from what he was eating. And he actually eats fruits and vegetables ever now.

 

He may be gaining muscle, but I doubt it as most of his hard workouts are based around basketball and so are mostly cardio. He says his clothes don't feel any looser which is what made me really confused. He's always been big. He's a big, muscular guy naturally. He gains weight (fat and muscle) very easily. It doesn't help that he's missing the hormone or whatever that makes you feel full. So he doesn't have a natural stop to his eating. His portion sizes are much larger than mine, but they have decreased dramatically.

 

Jd: It's nice to know that it just might take awhile to see results.

 

Bella: He's planning on going to the doctor in a few weeks if he still doesn't see results. It's definitely a good idea.

 

Thanks, all! Keep the advice coming! It's hard for me to understand because we've basically been on the same diet, and I (who am naturally thin and at the low end of my healthy weight) have lost a couple of pounds already... his body is so different from mine that I'm just lost!

[b0yer]

as a person who takes their body very seriously I would like to weigh in on this. First off, diet is most important thing. Make sure you are eating lean meats, veggies and fruits. Cut out snack foods and sodas and drink water or soda water.

 

But he is not working out enough as well. Dieting will only take you so far. He should work out more than two times a week. If he is looking to lose weight, he should try and do cardio 3-4 times a week for 30-45 minutes. If he is lifting weights, then tell him to forget the scale and just see how his results are coming in the weight room and how he feels physically.

 

With that all said, it takes a lot of time to lose weight and a lot of effort. Keep him eating well and working out and the weight will come off.

 

The best advice I ever got to losing weight is to keep a journal of all the food you eat. write it down. It will make you think about snacking before you go and get them from the cabinet.

 

Also, if he wants to lose weight, he has to exert more calories in one day than he consumes. So if he starts counting calories, I am sure you will see dramatic results. Just keep at it. It will come.

[sidehop]

It's tough to lose weight for anyone. I agree with Bella, get his body checked first, blood drawn, and see what his stats are. Chances are if he's 75 lbs overweight there are many risks involved which gradual lifestyle change will benefit him especially changing the food intake alone.

 

I probably would stop doing the weighing every morning. The weight fluctuates heavily when you work out and the body is either retaining or pushing out water; I've seen numbers go from 2~4 lbs on any given day aside from the food you're consuming. But measure his body fat stats. The idea is to get lean so if you're exercising and eating, you'll notice decrease in those numbers first. Get a simple tape measure like link removed that allows you to measure by yourself and a fat caliper (like link removed) to get the baseline. These calipers will be 3~4% off of actual body fat but you're trying to have a consistent reading and see the difference which is more important.

 

Realistically, he's looking at nine months before losing all 75 lbs and cutting down 1,000 calories a day (2 lbs of healthy fat loss a week). He's going to have to calorie count. Diet will need to be changed and if he wants to see drastic improvement in the next few months he'll have to workout more often. Otherwise reaching that goal could take over a year. For me to lose 20 lbs of fat took me around seven weeks. I say realistic because otherwise he'll get discouraged very quickly without a plan. The good news of course is he can lose it, just need to be patient, change the lifestyle slowly and start to see more progress. Once that progress is seen it can only head into a better direction.

 

Another thing about portion size, it really depends what he's eating. It's so easy to eat 1,000 calories with ice cream and junk food. It wouldn't be so easy to eat 1,000 calories worth of oatmeal as you'll get fuller faster. The same concept applies to everyday eating, if you're eating more raw foods, complex carbs and lean protein not only he'll eat less in calories but he'll full longer and the fat storage will decrease. Nutrition is really a science, for body fat loss and have a lean muscle mass you just have to calorie count and know what's going in your body aside from exercising.